Zechariah 11:12-13
11:12 a Thirty pieces of silver was the price of a slave (see Exod 21:32 b). In the allegory, the silver was severance pay for the shepherd (Zech 11:9 c). The Gospel writers find the fulfillment of this passage in the betrayal of Jesus for thirty silver coins by Judas (see Matt 26:15 d; 27:9-10 e).11:13 f to the potter: Some scholars speculate that a guild of potters might have been minor Temple officials due to the continual need for sacred vessels (see Lev 6:28 g). Others, noting the similarity between potter (Hebrew yotser) and treasury (’otsar), follow the Syriac version, which reads into the treasury (see Matt 27:6 h, 10 i; cp. Jer 32:6-9 j). The Greek Old Testament translates this sentence as “throw it into the furnace,” suggesting that the silver was melted down and recast into a silver vessel for use in Temple rituals.
• Thirty coins (or pieces of silver) was a magnificent sum of money (nearly two years’ wages for the average laborer).
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